The Blackhawks made predictable decisions before the NHL’s qualifying-offer deadline Monday and aren’t expected to do much during the first day of free agency Tuesday.
It’s not an exciting offseason by any means — certainly not compared to the last two.
But there are still a few things to do. The Hawks checked three boxes by issuing defensemen Wyatt Kaiser and Louis Crevier and goaltender Arvid Soderblom qualifying offers, per a source.
Those offers keep them restricted free agents and give Crevier and Soderblom arbitration rights. The Hawks now have the rest of the summer to sort out new contracts for each player, which shouldn’t be too difficult.
Kaiser and Soderblom seem likely to end up with cap hits in the $1.5 to $2.5 million range, whereas Crevier should be near $1 million.
Philipp Kurashev, whose play fell off a cliff during his fifth NHL season in 2024-25, did not receive a qualifying offer and will become an unrestricted free agent. Nor did AHL forwards Jalen Luypen, Aku Raty and Antti Saarela (the latter two of which were already signed or playing in Europe). Cole Guttman will also depart as a UFA.
RFA crop
Soderblom is penciled in as the Hawks’ backup behind Spencer Knight next season, although if Laurent Brossoit is healthy — a big question, considering he missed all of 2024-25 following two meniscus surgeries — the Hawks will have to decide what to do with him, too.
Soderblom, 25, went 10-18-7 with an .898 save percentage and minus-2.2 goals saved above average (GSAA) last season. Those aren’t spectacular numbers, but they demonstrated clear improvement over his 2023-24 performance: 5-22-2 with an .879 save percentage and minus-22.9 GSAA.
The Hawks believe he can continue that progression, even though goalies are infamously unpredictable.
“If you look at the big picture, I feel like it was a solid year,” Soderblom said in April. “[I learned to] just trust my game and not try to chase anything or get rattled with results. This year, no matter what happened — win, loss, bad goal, big save — I was even-keel.”
Kaiser, 22, has traveled back and forth between Chicago and Rockford frequently during the last two years, but things seemed to click for him in March and he enjoyed by far his best NHL stint to date. His agility and hockey IQ made him a well-suited defensive partner for a learning-on-the-fly Artyom Levshunov.
Competition will be steep for Hawks defensive spots in training camp (and permanently moving forward), but Kaiser has an opportunity to establish himself as a full-time NHL player.
The same applies to Crevier, 24, who has already defied the odds to play 56 NHL games as a seventh-round pick. He has paired well as a towering duo with Alex Vlasic at times, although he was a healthy scratch frequently during the season’s stretch run.
What’s next?
In an ideal world, the Hawks would acquire another top-six offensive winger this summer, but the trade and free-agent markets are both so scarce that it seems unlikely at this point.
The Hawks should at least inquire to some notable UFAs like Nikolaj Ehlers, Brock Boeser and Mikael Granlund when the market opens at 11 a.m. CT Tuesday. But those players probably won’t be interested in the Hawks, nor are the Hawks expected to be willing to meet their contract term demands.
Perhaps Jonathan Drouin, Jack Roslovic or Victor Olofsson — three guys who can accumulate points, albeit relatively empty-calorie points — could make sense.
The Hawks could also seek out a tough depth forward in the Pat Maroon mold (such as Tanner Jeannot, Michael Eyssimont, Luke Kunin or Nick Cousins) and a veteran depth defenseman in the Alec Martinez mold (such as Jeff Petry, Jon Merrill or Marc-Edouard Vlasic).